Ride It

A bit disoriented, I look at the man with a stupid look on my face. My brain still tries to process what the hell just happened.

I was about to fall off the cliff... so how did I get tugged back?

I look at the rope around my waist and feel my eyes widen as the thought occurs to me.

“Did you just - did you just lasso me!?” My voice is tinged with my disbelief.

There’s no way that just happened.

My self-pity and sadness get overshadowed by the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I sure did, sweetheart. C’mon, let’s get you up.” He bends and grabs my arm to tug me off the ground.

I wince as I get to my feet and stumble into him.

He wraps his hand around my waist and holds me steady so I can catch my balance.

Embarrassed, I push myself out of his arms and wince as I limp a few steps backward.

The stranger’s eyes glance down at my limp. “You hurt yourself, lass?”

It’s so dark that I can barely make out his face.

“Why did you do that?” I ask, my hand moving to untie the rope that he has trailing from my waist to his fist.

He tugs his hand and makes me stumble forward, a chuckle spilling from his lips. “Sorry, sweetheart. It was too tempting not to.”

My face gets heated as I realize that he’s toying with me. This isn’t funny at all.

I try to untie the rope from my waist again, only to get tugged forward.

A frustrated sound slips past my lips as I look at the stranger in exasperation.

“Stop.”

“Right, sorry,” he raises his hands in surrender and takes a step back, the rope still tightly wrapped around his fist. He doesn’t seem too intent on unraveling it, either.

I go back to fumbling with the thick rope and find that I can’t get it undone. It’s firmly wrapped around my waist.

My heart slowly drops as I look up at the man warily. Is he going to do something to me?

“What do you want?” I ask, keeping a safe distance between us.

“I should ask you that. You’re on my property. You tryna dump a body?”

I freeze, my mind blanking out for a second. “Dump a body?”

He points at the cliff. “You tryna kill yourself? What got you wanting to do that?”

“I...”

“Cat got your tongue?”

I didn’t know that this was someone’s property. I thought it was just a hill. Do hills have owners?

Feeling a bit guilty, I apologize. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this is your land.”

I look around at the large expansion of trees doubtfully and furrow my eyebrows. “This is your land?”

There isn’t any house.

He opens his arms and gestures around us. “This whole area is my land, sweetheart. I own this estate.”

An estate...

I only know one estate. I look out towards the large house that I saw in the distance and feel my eyes widen in surprise.

Is he talking about the Langston estate? The largest ranch in town whose crops basically dominate the markets? That estate?

“So? You gonna tell me what a pretty lady like yourself is doing tryna kick the bucket? You look injured.” His eyes scan my body from head to toe.

I wrap my arms around myself and murmur. “Take this rope off me first. I’ll explain after.”

He chuckles. “Why? So you can jump when I’m not looking?” He tugs on the rope lightly to sway my waist. “This is a good leash.”

I frown, not liking the way he says that.

Maybe coming outside was a bad idea. Then again, which do I even prefer? Jason’s torment or this humiliation?

The man sees my downtrodden expression and I can sense the heavy tension in the air. Shadows are cast on his face as his eyes flicker in the dark. He drops the teasing act and asks, “You alright?”

Am I?

I can’t even bring myself to lie. An image of Jason enters my mind and I squeeze my eyes shut as the sound of my screams echo through my ears as he cracks his belt down across my back.

I’m not.

I sigh and walk towards the cliff again, only to be tugged back. I look back at the man with a frown.

“I’m not going to jump,” I reassure him and start walking towards the cliff again.

He follows closely behind.

I choose to sit on the edge instead, my feet hanging over and swinging absentmindedly. I sigh and look up at the new moon above our heads.

“You should’ve just let me jump,” I whisper, hopelessness creeping up on me again.

The stranger comes to sit next to me, his grip still tight around the stupid rope attached to my waist. I can’t even bother to acknowledge it anymore.

The feelings inside of me twist and turn, making me lose the will to do anything but sit here and wallow.

Jason is probably home by now and going crazy over my absence. It’s only a matter of time before he finds me.

“I don’t think you want to jump,” the stranger says, his eyes drilling into my side profile.

“I do.” I nod, my voice firm with my decision. I’d rather die than spend the rest of my life catering to a man who beats me if I don’t act the way he wants me to.

Just look at my body. I’m a mess. I’ve been a mess ever since Jason came into my life.

I want out.

“Why?” He’s curious. Of course, he’ll be.

I look young, but instead of being spirited and hopeful towards my future, I’m downcast. Not a bone to live in my body, as all those bones are already broken. Snapped by the grimy hands caging me behind doors.

My voice breaks as I choose to confide in this stranger. When else would I ever get a chance to speak to another person besides my family? Soon enough, I’ll be back at Jason’s estate with a lock on my bedroom door again.

“I’m getting married next fall,” I admit, my finger playing with an abandoned leaf on the ground. “But I don’t want to. He’s not a good man. You can tell by the bruises on my body.” I gesture to myself.

He takes in my disheveled appearance and nods. “So that’s where the wounds come from. How long has this been going on? You call the cops?”

I can’t help but laugh, but it only comes out bitter. “The cops? What can they do to the man who owns most of the property in town? Even my parents prefer not to get on his bad side because of all the good he’s done for our family.”

I sigh and place a hand over my face to block him from seeing my tears. I can’t help but cry. It’s the only thing I can do to release my frustration.

“I can’t take it anymore. If this is how life is going to be for me, then I don’t want it. I refuse to have it. I’d rather die.”

The stranger remains silent as I cry. He doesn’t reach his hand to comfort me, nor does he mutter any words of sympathy, and I appreciate him for it.

What I need right now isn’t comfort. I just need to let go. To vent.

“I hate him so much and I feel powerless to do anything because he’s stronger than me. Everyone looks up to him like he’s some saint when I know he’s not. I have scars on my back for all the times he’s whipped me for disobedience. My ankle is swollen and sprained from being pushed down the stairs for refusing to go into his bedroom. I... I have a wound on my hips from the time he pushed me into the kitchen counter. I’m afraid that if I don’t kill myself now, he’ll eventually be the one to do it and I can’t give him that satisfaction.”

“So that’s why you’re here?” He gestures towards the cliff.

I shake my head. “Not at first. I risked leaving the house to get fresh air and found myself here. That’s when I decided I didn’t want to go back.” I glance at him to see him looking out at the horizon.

I feel bad for dumping this mess on him. I don’t have to say Jason’s name for him to know who I’m talking about. It’s quite obvious living in such a small town where everyone knows everyone. Besides, many in town admire Jason. His name isn’t brought up lightly.

He’s probably thinking I’ll get him in trouble if he stays here with me any longer.

I apologize. “I’m sorry for dumping this on you. I’ll leave in a bit so you don’t have to worry about any retaliation from him.”

He shakes his head. “I’m the one who asked. You talking about Jason or Andrew Beauregard?”

I look at him in surprise. I didn’t expect him to be so straightforward about it. “Jason. Do you know him?”

He chuckles. “Who doesn’t know the rich Beauregard heir? This town is too small.”

Oh, he’s heard the rumors. From the way he says their names so casually, I assumed they knew each other, which is stupid of me.

Everyone knows the Beauregard family. They own half the property in town. Their family dates back generations and is spread out throughout the area. His cousin is the mayor and his brother runs a clinic.

“You’re right. That’s my fiancée.” I admit.

“You have shitty luck.”

I smile bitterly. “Right? I curse myself for catching his attention every day. Even though it’s not right, I sometimes blame my parents for making me this way.” I gesture to myself with pursed lips.

This is a predominantly white town, but my father is a man of color. He moved to this town for reasons unknown when he was just a boy and met my mother. Long story short, they settled down and built a family together, which was how I and my siblings came to be.

I’m not as dark as my father, but not as light as my mother, either. I have a slight tan with long black loose curls that’s hard to maintain and hazel eyes. I look more like my mother, so I’ve been told, and I remember always getting compliments about how pretty I am. How exotic. At first, I didn’t mind the compliments, but then I realized how much of a burden it was to stand out in a small town like this.

That burden is Jason. He thought I was too pretty to pass up to any other man and took me for himself. He doesn’t love me. He loves the attention he gets from having me.

"I’m sorry to say, but I can’t see what you’re cursing about. It’s too dark out.” He points up at the sky.

I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips. “You’re right. Good thing you can’t see then. I’d hate to have a second man obsessed with me.” I joke lightly, not really meaning it.

I know I’m pretty, but I know many other women in town’s even prettier. Jason just has a peculiar taste in women.

“You never know,” he shrugs.

We sit in silence for a while as I close my eyes and take in the fresh breeze that blows through my tangled nest of hair.

It’s a nice feeling. Being outside.

Movement catches my attention and I look over to see the stranger getting off the ground. He dusts off his pants, rope still clutched in his hand.

“Alright, let’s go home.” He reaches down, lifts me, and throws me over his shoulder.

Startled, I clutch his shirt and exclaim. “What are you doing? Put me down!”

My heart drops into my stomach. Is he going to take me back to Jason? Should I even fight this? It’s not like it’ll make a difference, since Jason will find me, anyway.

I try to shimmy myself out of his hold but find that I can’t. His grip is too strong.

He says, “Don’t worry. I’m not taking you back to your fiancée. You said you don’t wanna live, so you won’t mind if I take that life of yours, would you?”

I tense as my brows furrow. My voice is small as I ask. “Take my life? Are you planning to kill me?”

He chuckles, “Of course not.”

“Then where are we going?”

“Like I said, sweetheart. We’re going home.”